Once again, we come up against a dichotomy of thought in the realm of free enterprise. I notice that collaboration is gaining traction on the internet, via social media and networking. Although, it's also apparent that "brands" are creating walls too high to climb for some strange reason. What would be the point of only promoting brands which bring you a direct profit, while ignoring popular applications or tools just because you don't get a penny for every time they are used?
As I said a few years ago, the efforts online which emphasize collaboration and make navigating the web easier (hint: don't require passwords for everything) would do well. It seems I was right on that point, twitter being one case in point. Even if you don't have a twitter account, you can still read messages and search messages, which I think is helpful for those who are not savvy with social networking skills. Anyway, does anyone have any excuse or reason for the lack of collaboration by many of the larger internet brands? Why would they jealously hoard their tools and hope for the demise of their competitors? Maybe they haven't caught the social web 3.0 virus yet. Competition is great, for contests and friendly challenges. But, competition which shuts down colloboration is just plain silly, IMHO.
Recommended listening:
SXSWi 2009 Presentation:
Civic Technologies and the Future of the Internet
Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Jonathan Zittrain warns how the migration to closed systems will end innovation on the Internet and facilitate unsettling new kinds of control and offers solutions for avoiding this web lockdown
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"anyone have any excuse/reason for the lack of collaboration by many of the larger internet brands?"
ReplyDeleteThe answer to this question is simple: It all comes down to revenue generated by advertising. Brands are loathe to open their platforms for collaborative projects if that means less hits to their sites, etc. Sad, I know, but those walls will continue to exist until those in charge of the closed platforms realize how counterproductive it is to create unnecessary barriers.
That said, I realize companies need to make money. I'm not naive enough to think we should expect fantastic tools at no cost. For collaboration to be profitable, a model would need to be created that took each participating company/brand's needs/desire for growth into consideration. Of course, brands should realize that if they make it easy for users to share information among networks, they will be more likely to retain brand loyalty, especially among those who appreciate openness and information sharing.
Thanks Jo! I love your insight about brand loyalty among consumers. Personally, I favor the brands which value collaboration and would be more likely to give my shopping dollar to a brand which supported open platforms of community. I would assume that those who held tightly to their precious ad dollars like some kind of Ebenether Screwge would fade away.
ReplyDeleteCan you give me an example of brands which have prospered because of their generous attitude on line?